- tessasblog
- March 26th, 12:54
I realize that there are lots of specifics I’ve missed because of my sensory over load here in Katmandu, so here I go. Let me start at the beginning; the volunteers and the visitor’s center. The visitor’s center is the first foundation we funded in Nepal and since it’s meager beginnings it’s blossomed into a house that welcomes volunteers from around the world.
When Devin and I first arrived at the house, it was already filled with a family of volunteers, which includes Scott, the founder of the Mountain fund, his son Max, his Nepali wife Sunita, her children Kritan and Bebu, along with two helpers Shanty and Susila.
Let me begin with a description of the present volunteers. Max’s last visit was in 2006 during a time of civil unrest, he is a history major, well spoken and has a witty quick sense of humor. Genevieve or Genie as we call her is a high school graduate and has been accepted to Hofstra University on Long island. Currently she is in her gap year and since graduating she has visited Uganda participating in HIV and aids prevention programs there. She will spend two months here in Nepal volunteering at a daycare. Alyssa is 18, a high school graduate, who has spent a semester at a bible school in Alaska. She was brought up as a Baptist, and currently practices no religion. She is here for 3 months and plans to go back to the US to finish college in either Kansas or Colorado. Both Genie and Alyssa work at the Orchid garden center, a daycare for young babies, ranging from 6 months to two years. Last but certainly not least, Jaclyn who is newly 21 from Hawaii, is here for a medical internship, which provides a plethora of invaluable opportunities. She is volunteering at Helping Hands community hospital. She’s always ecstatic when she comes home from the hospital, where she’s gotten to assist the doctors in some pretty awesome surgical procedures that she would not have had the opportunity to do in the states. The shortage of medical practitioners here is evident.
These young adults have the craving for change in common. They’re all enthusiastic about life skills and they’re in similar stages in their personal growth, using their open-minded perspectives and hunger for knowledge to shape them. The girls all have beautiful skin with varying shades of hair, and great eyebrows. They all have piercings, anywhere from 18 to 8, they are very articulate and it’s been fun getting to know them. Sometimes I forget that I’m almost sixty because they’re so spirited and I get a contact high. Though they have said to me, “you’re as young as your heart is, and that makes you our sister.” We’re all going through the same sensory intensity but they’ve had time to adjust. Devin integrates well with his usual radiating personality, and Max seems to be the male security for the girls.
These five young adults along with Devin and I took an amazing 3 day excursion to the west side of Nepal…. Chit wan alley. We made the departure the day after Tessa’s birthday driving west with colorful trucks whipping buy the silver mini bus which had been arranged for our travels. We dipped from Katmandu at about 4200 ft to Chit wan valley, which is about 200 ft above sea level preparing for our trip to the jungle. The cars had slowly dwindled as we got further away from Katmandu and we were now sharing the narrow road with the TATA trucks. They are reminiscent of my childhood and my brother’s bright colored toy Tonka trucks. These TATA trucks are the miniature eighteen wheelers of Nepal. They whiz in and out and around one another like a video game, looking like shrines reflecting the decals adorning the glass windshields. The bodies of these trucks look as if they are about to be in a parade; one appearing more artistic than the next. It seems we were traveling a trade route with supplies funneling into Katmandu from the farm land. We all look forward to the possibility of some pleasant adventures in Chit wan. The journey before us was at least five hours on a bumpy well traveled road. Scott had arranged the weekend getaway for us. The six of us plus our guide Som found ourselves anticipating the change of scenery, fresh air and village lore.
Let me summarize the events in Chit wan. We arrived at the Hotel Jungle Lodge, where there are very few tourists in the town due to the recent political upheaval, which brought on a transportation strike. The tension was between the Tharu and Madhissi people. I’ll spare you the details. Things have been resolved by the government, though people are still apprehensive about going into the area so we were basically alone in the hotel with the informal staff caring for us in the Nepali fashion, casual hospitable, and friendly. The staff welcomed us with the simple pleasant greeting of Namaste, in which we bow hands in prayer. This is the traditional greeting here rather than shaking hands and people touching you. Namaste is to say the light within me honors the light within you. We had lunch upon arrival and spent the afternoon at the elephant sanctuary. With these magnificent gigantic elephants, we were all in awe; Jaclyn in particular couldn’t wait to be in the presence of her power animal the elephant, this has been a dream of hers since childhood. So there we were four young women, two young men, and I. We were accompanied by three Nepali protectors who would be surrounding and protecting us for the stay. On our walk to the elephant sanctuary I turned to Jaclyn and said, “ I smell pot!” To which she replied,” Me too!” Then we looked over and realized that there was marijuana growing wild on the side of the road! I was worried that one of the kids had pot on them!! As we walked down to the river to catch the last rays of the sunset I stumbled upon a heart rock and knew that Tessa’s frequency was approving of our journey.
For dinner that night we had Dhal Bat the traditional Nepali dish made of a tasty and healthy lentil soup, severed over rice. That evening we went to a traditional stick dance with Nepali men, which was absolutely one of the most creative expression of movement and agility I have ever witnessed. We were all pretty transfixed with the dancing at the cultural center which was right behind our hotel. The simple stage and worn benches were reflective of sanctuaries. The audience was a mix of mostly Nepali and some tourists. I would take a glance at Devin on the other end of the bench, the girls between us, and see his enthusiasm for the show, he was truly impressed. They had a woman who came out like a flamenco dancer and I was taken with her body and her clothing, spinning her dress like a Spanish dancer in the sea. Later I found out that apparently she was a man but I was so enthralled by “his” movement I forgot to check out the details of his face. At the end a couple of the dancers came out into the audience and tried to coax the audience onto stage. Devin decided to go as a representative for all of us. His rhythm and movement was so unbelievable that the place was screaming, especially all of us! Jaclyn greeted him with praises when he got off the stage,” Devin your our hero!” I was so proud of him; he was so spontaneous and had such good rhythm with the complicated dance moves. He really set the pace for the rest of our time there, the enthusiasm was contagious.
The next morning they had us up at six thirty and we were off on our elephant ride. The elephants picked us up from the hotel and we stomped towards the jungle, elated to be in the midst of our adventure. Max and the girls climbed onto their elephant Champakali, and Jaclyn was so stoked she could hardly maintain. There elephant was so tall and beautiful her face was glowing with a pink trunk and sprinkled with what looked like freckles caused by variations in pigment. Devin, Som and I were together on Lacki Kali. Each elephant had a handler straddling the neck of the gentle beasts, feet pressed into their ears for steering. We had Tessa’s ashes tucked inside our heart viles. When we got to the jungle, Devin and I both felt that it would from be a perfect place to spread Tessa’s ashes; in Nepal in the middle of a jungle far away from Katmandu. After seeing a rhinoceros with her baby in the middle of a tranquil pond we offered her ashes with joy into the welcoming jungle. We saw beautiful deer sitting quietly with their babies as we trekked by on our elephants. The birds were amazing singing us lullaby’s foreign yet comforting to our ears. All of us were so excited to be in the jungle, to see the surroundings, breathe the fresh air, and be on our elephants it was an incredible experience. Devin had an urgent need to pee and asked our handler Delli if he could just stand and pee off the elephant. He was in need of a quick relief, instead Delli stopped Laki Kahli and she bent down so Devin could slide down her leg take a pee then crawl back up into the saddle. We had a joyful, wonderful and unusual once in a life time experience. It was a joy to really think of Tessa and how she would be so pleased with her ashes being dispersed under such exhilarating circumstances. We completed our journey in the jungle after two hours then ventured down to the river to bath the elephants.
The girls and Devin stripped down to their most available bathing cloths and charged the daunting elephant poo ridden water. However the opportunity to bathe with an elephant quickly quelled the fear of disgusting water filled with crocodiles, and an uncountable number of bacteria and microbes. The elephant bathing experience was such a high and the elephants were so dear, watching the handler’s scrub their bodies with their hands, watching the girls and Devin play on their backs and roll around in the water with them was surreal. Max and I were the official photographers getting every snap shot and I was rolling the video camera. I was reminded of Devin as a little boy the way he was so happy, free and totally focused on the experience. Elephants are huge animals but they are so dear and gentle when they are in the water. I started to cry at one point watching all of them have such an exuberant moment of joy. I felt like I was watching Devin play with his school mates and it was absolutely normal that they had an elephant in the water with them, the feeling was very cathartic. The rest of the day was spent cannoning with crocodiles, going to the elephant breeding center which was a trip. The kids had cookies and were feeding the little baby elephants who left their pens to get their treats. The baby elephants were adorable but would bump us if we had no more treats to give them. We had two Nepali men named Krishna along with our guide named Som walking us through the jungle, being our fearless posse. I personally felt this was the closest I was ever going to get to a safari, unless of course we extend our foundation work into Africa. When we were getting ready to leave the hotel our two waiters both named Krishna and the owner were sad to see us go, they gave us flowers and tika’s for a safe travel and best wishes on arrival and at our departure. We were only there for 3 days and two nights but we felt like we’d been there a week, since so much had been done and said and felt in that short time. We weren’t looking forward to going back Kathmandu’s crowd, however we all have service to do. The time at Chit wan was special, rewarding and a necessity for all of our sanity.
We certainly got to know each other quickly on this adventure and as we drove back to Katmandu we were beside the Trisuli River, which is supposedly a rafting river, and of course I had thoughts of Tessa along the way, as I always seem to. It’s hard not to think about her, especially being with these young girls who are doing the same type of work she wanted to do with her life. For a small moment in time I looked over the cliff and was reminded of the Grand Canyon. And on the way back we stopped in a small town to get some water and there was a man with a box on his head selling his goods like a 1940’s cigarette girl except instead of selling cigarettes he was selling vegetables.
tessasblog
